Which to use
“exceeding” and “extending” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,767
- “exceeding” frequency rank
- #6,685
- “extending” frequency rank
- 19452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exceeding | extending |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of exceed | present participle and gerund of extend |
Where the eye mixes exceeding and extending
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses exceeding with extending
A purely visual mix-up. exceeding (/ɪkˈsiːdɪŋ/) and extending (/ɛkˈstɛndɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exceeding is recorded at frequency rank #12,767, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈsiːdɪŋ/. extending is at rank #6,685, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɛkˈstɛndɪŋ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 19452, this pair ranks #438,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exceeding vs extending
Shared letters: deginx. Private to "exceeding": c. Private to "extending": t.
"exceeding" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC · "extending" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exceeding" and "extending" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "exceeding" vs "extending" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "exceeding" and "extending" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "exceeding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extending" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exceeding" and "extending" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exceeding vs excepting". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #438,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.